Burkinabe media celebrate press day in broken ranks

Ouagadougou- Burkina Faso (PANA) -- Media practitioners in Burkina Faso observed World Press Freedom Day against the backdrop of simmering divisions that emerged at a recent congress of the National Union of Information and Culture Workers (SYNATIC).
All ranks, however, lamented the murder of journalists Norbert Zongo.
In a joint statement the Burkina Faso Association of Journalists (AJB), the Media Freedom League, the Burkinabe Movement for Human and People's Rights (MBDHP) and the National Media Observatory (ONAP) said Zongo's killing marked a major stage in the evolution of the media and political life in Burkina Faso.
They launched the third edition of the Norbert Zongo prize for investigative journalism, in memory of the editor who was killed in November 1998.
They noted that "repression against the media has become less barbaric" in Burkina Faso ever since Zongo's assassination.
If the media situation was still tenable, the statement added, it is thanks to the determination of media professionals, democrats and national opinion, which has been more assertive since the assassination.
Communication stakeholders called on Burkinabe journalists to take a thorough look at the Charter on professional ethics so as to ensure freedom of expression and media freedom.